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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

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On Wikipedia I read:
"Kvass or kvas, sometimes translated into English as bread drink, is a fermented mildly alcoholic beverage made from black rye or rye bread (which attributes to its light or dark colour).
It is popular in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland and other Eastern and Central European countries as well as in all ex-Soviet states, like Uzbekistan, where one can see many kvass vendors in the streets. Its origins go back 5,000 years to the beginnings of beer production. The alcohol content is so low (0.05-1.44%) that it is considered acceptable for consumption by children. It is often flavoured with fruits or herbs such as strawberries or mint. Kvass is also used for preparing a summer cold soup, okroshka.
The last time I made kvass was about 10 years ago, so I decide to make it once again. To fill my big Perfect Pickler pot, I took 6 appels (862 grams), 1 sourdough bread (400gr), 250 grams fresh sauerkraut, a few leaves of fresh mint, a handfull of dried raisins, and a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger (as I am a gingerolic).
First soak the bread in water, grate all the appels, mix all well, knead the soaked bread so it will crumble, put all in the pickle pot and fill up with water.
Keep 4 days in room temperature, till it start to bubble, afterwards keep in refrigerated.
The longer you keep it , the better it become. After 2-3 months , you can filter it and bottle the kvass. It is a long time and as I love kvass ...